Bond has been set at $250,000

October 13, 2012

WARREN - A Niles man was in Trumbull County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty Friday to his ninth drunken driving charge.

John Harold Buck Jr., 42, of Mahoning Avenue, and a scaler at Niles Manufacturing, faces between two and 11 years in prison on the indictments returned earlier in the week by a Trumbull County grand jury.

He has been charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs with specifications of a forfeiture and as a repeat OVI offender, which includes seven drunken driving offenses in the last 20 years and a felony OVI conviction in 2006.

''The defendant has served a prior prison term for OVI. His driver's license has been suspended a staggering 32 times. He has been convicted of driving under court-imposed suspensions 13 times. He has a total of 29 prior moving violations, including vehicular child endangering, failure to control and leaving the scene of an accident,'' assistant county prosecutor Michael Burnett said in a memorandum for bond set by Judge Peter Kontos.

Buck's case was assigned to Judge John M. Stuard and a pre-trail was scheduled for Thursday morning.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers arrested Buck recently traveling at 91 mph on state Route 11 with his 15-year-old son in a pickup truck. He also faces another charge of endangering children.

His blood-alcohol content was 0.203; that is more than twice the state's legal limit of 0.08, Burnett said.

''I only had eight beers,'' Buck told the arresting trooper, according to Burnett's memorandum.

According to Trumbull County Common Pleas Court records, Buck was indicted on a felony charge of driving under the influence in March 2003, to which he pleaded guilty. Burnett said he failed to show up for sentencing until he was apprehended and sentenced in 2006.

He was sentenced to six months in prison, fined $800 plus court costs and was ordered to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. His driver's license also was suspended for five years, court records show.

He later filed a petition requesting to perform community service in lieu of paying the fine, but his request was denied. Court records show he still owes $1,203.

''The defendant continues to drink and drive at high rates of speed, showing that he has complete indifference for the safety of the general public and the life, health and well-being of the children he repeatedly places in danger's way,'' Burnett wrote.